Superman: Dawnbreaker (DC Icons #4)(73)

Now he was trying to save all of Smallville.

Clark grabbed hold of the hulking vehicle. He gritted his teeth as he strained to guide it away from the field of men and over a small hill some fifty yards away. The blades whirred loudly above him, fighting him for leverage. One of the men in black fatigues hung out the window. He fired shots directly into Clark’s face, but now that all Clark’s strength had returned, he instinctually dodged each bullet, contorting his body in unimaginable ways. He released his grip on the skids, repositioning himself farther back, making it impossible for the gunfire to reach him.

The shots ricocheted off the skids, spraying in all directions.

Bryan soon gave up trying to wrest away control of the chopper. Clark was too strong. Too determined. When they were only twenty or so feet above land, Clark heaved the vessel toward an empty pasture. He and the helicopter crashed to the earth at the exact same moment, Clark tumbling across the field before finally coming to rest face-first in a patch of dirt.

He leapt to his feet and bounded over to the smoking helicopter and tore off the door, flinging it aside.

First, he zeroed in on the guard with the rifle, yanking the weapon from the man’s hands and bending the barrel into a U. He tossed aside the weapon, ripped a seat belt out of the floor, and quickly tied the two guards together at the wrists, back-to-back.

Bryan sat there, stunned. But Clark could tell by the look on his face that Bryan didn’t recognize him, so he turned his attention to Dr. Wesley first. The man was holding several vials of the green compound that had made Clark so sick. One slipped out of the man’s hands and fell to the ground. Luckily, it didn’t break. Dr. Wesley didn’t recognize him, of course, but Clark wasn’t taking any chances this time. He pulled in a massive breath and exhaled a blast of frost that froze both the vials and Dr. Wesley’s hands solid.

The man shouted in pain, cradling his body around his frozen hands.

Corey made a move for one of the rifles on a rack against the rear wall, but Clark quickly grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him back into his seat. He then tore another seat from its foundation and bent it around both Corey’s torso and the first seat, pinning his arms and trapping him there.

“Lemme go, you freak!” Corey struggled desperately to free himself, but his efforts were futile.

Bryan was out of the chopper now, racing toward the crest of the hill. Clark sprinted after him, slamming into his back and taking him to the ground about twenty yards from the chopper. He sprang to his feet and stood over Bryan, who looked up at Clark with a mix of fear and astonishment.

“Bryan!” Clark barked. “Tell me you weren’t in on this the whole time! Tell me you didn’t help Wesco separate innocent people from their families.”

Bryan climbed to his feet and stumbled backward a few steps before falling. “How do you…? Is that…? Clark?” Bryan scrambled to his feet again and slowly backed up. “You can…fly?”

Clark cursed himself for having given away his identity. He peered back at Corey and Dr. Wesley, making sure he hadn’t revealed himself to the others, too. They were just out of earshot. Clark moved toward Bryan, feeling a deep sense of betrayal. He was still trying to process what he’d seen down on the field. And how it related to what he’d seen the night before. The chains. The propaganda video. The IVs.

“Clark…you really shouldn’t be here. Trust me.” Bryan’s face was stuck in a kind of pained expression.

“How could you be working with your brother and Dr. Wesco?” Clark demanded. “You’re not like them.”

Corey began shouting a string of obscenities at Clark as he thrashed against the seat bent around his body. He managed to tip himself over and roll out of the helicopter, but all he succeeded in doing was falling to the ground with a loud thump. Now he lay on his side, face pinned against the dirt as he spewed dusty insults at Clark.

Dr. Wesley was fifteen feet away from him, his entire body still folded around his frozen hands, eyes wide with shock and pain.

Bryan was sucking in deep breaths as he stared at Clark. “My dad said he needed me,” he said with mock conviction. “He finally believes in me, Clark. He placed me in a position of power.”

“Your dad?” Clark was furiously trying to put all the pieces together in his head. How could Bryan be working for his dad and flying out to the Jones farm with Corey and Dr. Wesco?

Unless…

Lana had said Wesco needed a cosigner to purchase the farm.

And Clark recalled Montgomery’s strange reaction when he’d asked about Project Dawn. Suddenly it all made sense….

Those men out on the field in formation.

The green substance.

The propaganda film.

This was Project Dawn.

Bryan stood there, staring back at Clark, his face frozen in terror.

“What are you telling that freak?” Corey shouted from near the helicopter. “Bryan, you’d better shut up! I’m warning you!”

The Mankins Corporation had been behind this thing all along.

Bryan pointed toward the other side of the hill. “Potential clients from around the world are over there right now, Clark. They’re waiting for our demonstration.”

“Demonstration of what?” Clark shouted. “You’re having them fight each other? After pumping them full of that green steroid?”